By Vietnam just banned unskippable online ads. On January 5, the government announced Decree 342/2025, which takes effect February 15 and requires all video advertisements to be skippable within 5 seconds maximum. Static ads must be closable immediately. This makes Vietnam the first country in Southeast Asia to regulate ad user experience this strictly, directly challenging platforms like YouTube, Facebook, and streaming services that currently force viewers to watch 20-30 second unskippable ads.
Developers worldwide are celebrating. With just 40 days to comply before enforcement, platforms face a technical scramble to redesign ad delivery systems while managing revenue implications. More importantly, this could set a global precedent. If Vietnam succeeds, other countries might follow.
Strict Technical Standards: 5 Seconds Maximum, No Fake Buttons
Decree 342/2025 sets precise engineering requirements. Video ads must display skip buttons at exactly 5 seconds. Static ads get zero seconds—immediately closable. Animated image sequences get 0.5 seconds maximum.
The decree also bans fake close buttons. Clicking “X” must actually close the ad with a single interaction, not redirect to advertiser landing pages. This eliminates one of the internet’s most annoying patterns: the deceptive close button that opens ads instead of closing them.
Current platforms routinely use 20-30 second unskippable video ads. Fake close buttons are widespread—users click what looks like a close icon and land on advertiser sites. Decree 342 eliminates both practices with enforceable technical specifications backed by government monitoring.
These aren’t vague guidelines. They’re precise requirements that demand server-side enforcement, not just client-side JavaScript that ad blockers can bypass. Platforms must validate close button behavior across web, mobile apps, and connected TV. With 40 days to comply, this is a genuine engineering challenge.
24-Hour Compliance or Face Criminal Prosecution
Vietnam isn’t issuing gentle warnings. Platforms and advertisers have 24 hours to remove violations once notified by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism or Ministry of Public Security. ISPs and telecoms must block non-compliant ads within the same 24-hour window.
The enforcement mechanism escalates beyond administrative fines. Organizations now face criminal prosecution for advertising violations—a major change from Vietnam’s previous advertising law. This shift from purely administrative penalties to criminal liability fundamentally changes the compliance calculus for platforms.
Vietnam has precedent for aggressive platform enforcement. The government previously banned TikTok’s shopping feature and imposed strict licensing requirements on Spotify. These aren’t empty threats. When Vietnamese regulators say 24-hour compliance, they mean it. ISP blocking within 24 hours means non-compliant ads disappear fast across Vietnam’s 100 million internet users.
Platforms Have Until February 15 to Redesign Ad Delivery
The decree was announced January 5, with enforcement starting February 15—a 40-day window. For global platforms, this means emergency engineering sprints. They need geolocation-based skip buttons specifically for Vietnamese users, server-side validation to prevent circumvention, and compliance across all platforms: web browsers, mobile apps, connected TV devices.
YouTube already uses 5-second skip on some TrueView ad formats, giving them a head start. However, Facebook video ads, Instagram Stories, and Reels currently lack skip functionality entirely. Streaming services with ad-supported tiers typically use 30-second unskippable spots in their ad breaks. All of these must be redesigned by February 15.
The technical challenge is real. Platforms must implement geolocation detection for Vietnamese users without degrading global ad delivery. Mobile app updates face app store review delays—typically 2-7 days—eating into the 40-day window. Server-side ad logic needs complete rewrites. Testing across platforms, devices, and network conditions takes time. This isn’t a configuration change; it’s a fundamental redesign of revenue-critical systems under extreme time pressure.
Related: 38 State Tech Laws Hit Jan 1, 2026: AI Transparency Clash
Developers Celebrate User-First Regulation
The Hacker News discussion garnered 331 points and 142 comments on January 5-6, with overwhelmingly positive sentiment. Common themes: “Finally, a government that gets it,” “Will the EU adopt this?” and “This is what regulation should look like.” Developers see this as rare regulation that prioritizes user experience over corporate profits.
Unlike GDPR, which focuses on privacy and data protection, Decree 342 tackles the everyday annoyance developers and users face: being forced to watch irrelevant ads. The developer community views this as refreshingly practical regulation—no complex consent frameworks, no ambiguous data processing definitions. Just a simple rule: users can skip ads after 5 seconds. Period.
Developer sentiment matters because technical communities often drive platform adoption and technology choices. Positive reception signals that user-focused regulation resonates. If this regulation succeeds in Vietnam without platforms exiting the market, developer advocacy could push other governments to adopt similar standards.
The revenue question remains open. Platforms will likely shift from CPM (cost-per-thousand-impressions) to CPV (cost-per-view) pricing models. Advertisers pay only when viewers actually watch, not just when ads display. This mirrors YouTube’s existing TrueView economics but requires more ad inventory to maintain revenue. The first 5 seconds of every ad becomes critical real estate—a creative arms race where advertisers must front-load their value proposition before viewers hit skip.
Key Takeaways
- Vietnam sets a global precedent with Decree 342/2025, mandating 5-second skip buttons for video ads and immediate close for static ads, effective February 15, 2026
- Enforcement is aggressive: 24-hour violation response windows, ISP blocking, and criminal prosecution for organizations—not just administrative fines
- Platforms face a 40-day engineering scramble to implement geolocation-based compliance across web, mobile apps, and connected TV platforms
- The decree bans fake close buttons and requires single-click ad closing, eliminating deceptive UI patterns that plague current advertising
- Developer communities are celebrating user-first regulation, raising the question: will other countries follow Vietnam’s lead?
Vietnam’s approach is straightforward: users shouldn’t be forced to watch ads they don’t want to see. Whether this model spreads globally depends on how platforms respond. The world is watching.
